Delta Names Steve Sear Senior Vice President - Global Sales

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Dec 22, 2011, 04:00 ET

ATLANTA, Dec. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today named Steve Sear senior vice president – global sales to recognize his outstanding contributions at the airline. Sear's previous title was vice president – global sales.

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Under Sear's leadership the Delta sales organization has become one of the biggest contributors to the airline's strong financial performance. Delta for the first time this year was named Business Travel News' best airline in an annual survey of corporate travel professionals, reflecting the excellence in customer service the corporate sales team achieved under Sear's tenure. Delta's sales efforts also have been lauded by Recommend magazine this year.

Sear guided the group through the merger with Northwest Airlines and the subsequent integration of the Air France-KLM and Alitalia Joint Venture sales teams and customer contracting.

"This promotion reflects the impressive progress our entire sales group has made under Steve's guidance and vision," said Ed Bastian, Delta's president. "His experience will help us continue to make Delta the strongly preferred airline for corporate travel and agency partners."

In his current role, Sear oversees the airline's worldwide sales programs and relationships with corporate customers and travel management companies. He also oversees MLT Vacations, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta. To further coordinate our Latin America activities, reservations sales and North American sales team, Sear also will expand his scope to include customer care, reservation sales and our fast-growing Latin America region.

Sear was vice president of sales and customer care at Northwest Airlines from 2005 to 2008. Before that he was named managing director of reservations in 2003, director of sales development in 1999, a Japan-based director of revenue for Northwest in 1995, manager of pricing in 1993 and joined the airline in 1992 as a pricing analyst.

Sear serves on the Business Travel News Editorial Board and is on the board of directors for Children's Cancer Research Fund. Additionally, Sear is actively engaged in a number of business organizations, including Global Business Travel Association and Association of Corporate Travel Executives.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year, and was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2011 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 341 destinations in 61 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $2 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.